Place:Tanga, Tanga, Tanzania

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the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Tanga is both the name of the most northerly port city of Tanzania on the west of the Indian Ocean, and the capital of Tanga Region. It had a population of 273,332 in 2012. The name Tanga means "sail" in Swahili.

The city of Tanga sits on the Indian Ocean, and is the capital of Tanga Region. The city is also the capital of Tanga District. Tanga is also the bicycle riding capital Tanzania. Its the only city in the country that offers bicycle taxi service.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Early history

The earliest documentation about Tanga comes from the Portuguese. A trading post was established by the Portuguese as part of their East African coastal territory and controlled the region for over 200 years between 1500 and 1700.

The Sultanate of Oman battled the Portuguese and gained control of the settlement by mid-1700 along with Mombasa, Pemba Island and Kilwa Kisiwani. The town continued to act as a trading port for ivory and slaves under the sultan's rule.

Tanga continued to be a prosperous trading hub for slaves with the Arab world up until 1873 when the European powers abolished the slave trade.^[1]

German East Africa

In the 19th Century, growing interests by Europeans for the Scramble for Africa brought the Germans to Tanga. The Germans bought the coastal strip of mainland Tanzania from the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1891. This takeover designated Tanga into a township and was the first establishment in German East Africa. The town became the centre of German colonial administration before the establishment of Dar es Salaam in the early 20th century. Tanga was chosen in 1889 as a military post of German East Africa, and it became a district office in 1891. The town saw rapid expansion and planned growth under the German occupation. A tram line was built in the city for domestic transport and a port was also built for exports. In 1896 the construction of the Usambara Railway began and was extended to Moshi by 1912. Roads, bridges and the railway enabled industrial growth in the region and many buildings and bridges that are still in operation today in the town are from the German colonial period. The local economy was based mainly on the production of sisal, which had been brought to the colony several years earlier, and population in the area grew rapidly.

British invasion and rule

As the coastal town closest to British East Africa, Tanga was on the front line of the East African campaign at the beginning of World War I. On 4 November 1914 a landing by British and Empire forces was repelled in the Battle of Tanga. On 13 June 1916 the Royal Navy battleship and protected cruisers and bombarded Tanga. On 7 July the protected cruiser and monitor entered Manza Bay and put troops ashore who occupied the town.

After the War, Britain gained control of Tanganyika and continued to develop Tanga and exploit its agricultural potential. In 1919 Tanga was the country's fourth largest city, but at independence it was the second largest city after Dar es Salaam.

Post-independence

In the early stages of independence, the Port of Tanga continued to be a gateway for the export of sisal from the region. However, following the adopting of the Ujamaa policy, agriculture in the region collapsed and the city lost its value. With the government controlling the agriculture trade and the depreciation in the world prices of Sisal the port began to lose revenue.

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